Ersha Island

Ersha Island

Map of Ersha Island
Traditional Chinese 二沙島
Simplified Chinese 二沙岛
Guangdong Museum of Art and the Xinghai Music Hall on Ersha Island.

Ersha Island or Jisa Island, formerly Napier Island in English, is an island in the Yuexiu District of Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. It houses the American International School of Guangzhou elementary school campus, several apartment complexes, a badminton stadium, and a government sports training facility. Er Sha Island is also home to the Guangdong Museum of Art and the Xinghai Concert Hall. It also contains several small parks: Chianqi, Hong Cheng, Ershadao Sports park, and Guangzhou Fazhan park.

History

Known to the English as Napier Island, it divides the Pearl River into two branches. On the eastern end was Napier's Fort, named after the British trade envoy to China, Lord Napier. It was a semi-circular fort of stone masonry mounting 35 guns and designed to command the passage on both sides.[1][2] During the First Opium War (1839–42), British forces took possession of the fort before capturing Canton (Guangzhou) in March 1841. Before the end of the war, the Chinese rebuilt the fort, plus three extra stone forts nearby, mounting nearly 200 guns in total.[1] During the Expedition to Canton in April 1847, the British captured 49 guns on Napier's Fort.[3] It later became one of four forts known as the Barrier Forts, which guarded a narrow opening in the river towards Guangzhou.[4] At the start of the Second Opium War (1856–60), the British captured these strategic locations with only slight opposition in the Battle of Canton on 23 October 1856. American forces recaptured these sites in the Battle of the Barrier Forts in November 1856.

Education

American International School of Guangzhou's elementary school campus is on the island.[5]

Previously the École Française Internationale de Canton, the French international school of Guangzhou, was located at the GoldArch Riverdale[note 1] development on Ersha Island.[6]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Er Sha Island.

Notes

  1. ↑ 金亚花园; 金亞花園; Jīnyà Huāyuán; gam1 aa3 faa1 jyun4*2

References

  1. 1 2 Bernard, W. D.; Hall, W. H. (1847). The Nemesis in China (3rd ed.). London: Henry Colburn. pp. 135–136.
  2. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 19984. p. 1431. 3 June 1841. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  3. ↑ D'Aguilar, George Charles (1848). Operations in the Canton River in 1847. Brighton: Arthur Wallis. p. 23.
  4. ↑ "How We Took the Chinese Forts". Harper's Weekly. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1 (10): 152. 18 March 1857.
  5. ↑ "Contact Us." American International School of Guangzhou. Retrieved on September 16, 2016. "Ersha Island Campus (Preschool-Gr.5): Address: No. 3 Yan Yu Street South, Ersha Island, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, PR China, 510105 广州市越秀区二沙岛烟雨南街3号" - Detailed map (Archive)
  6. ↑ Home. École Française Internationale de Canton. May 26, 2003. Retrieved on September 16, 2016. "-Adresse: GoldArch Riverdale - Île d'Er Sha - GUANGZHOU/P.R.C " - Chinese address at the Wayback Machine (archive index): "中国广州二沙岛金亚花园内"

Coordinates: 23°06′45″N 113°18′01″E / 23.112457°N 113.3004141°E / 23.112457; 113.3004141

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